Archive for June, 2008

Liberty Letters and The Center for Moral Liberalism’s goal is to pull together the premier liberty library on the internet, some of it eventually housed in Liberty Letters, the rest elsewhere, but all of it organized for your easy access right here on this page. Browse, bookmark, and spread the word to family, friends, and neighbors!

The Library

1. The Founders’ Constitution: Online library a joint project of Liberty Fund, Inc (who produced this five volume wonder, and the University of Chicago.

2. Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics: A project of Jon Roland’s Constitution Society. Filled with original full text source documents dating back to the 4th Century BC., all the way up through the founding era.

3. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730-1805, Foreword by Ellis Sandoz, from Liberty Fund. Vital, inspirational read for those who wish to witness for themselves the powerful influence of Judeo-Christian thought on inspiring and sustaining the American Revolution and the marvelous American Constitution that followed. These are actual sermons, in the original, given by religious ministers of the day.

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington
recently was faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls
were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That
was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips
to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the
maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put
them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done! She called
all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man.
She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for
the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how
difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man
to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned
the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the
mirror.

There are teachers, and then, there are educators

Advanced in age, old Charlie’s hospital bed is surrounded by well-wishers,

but it doesn’t look good. Suddenly, he motions frantically to the pastor for

something to write on. The pastor lovingly hands him a pen and a piece of paper,

and Charlie, struggling to write, uses his last bit of energy to scribble a hasty note,

then flops back in bed and dies.
The pastor thinks it best not to look at the note right away being as everyone

is in mourning,, so he places it in his jacket pocket..
At Charlie’s funeral, as the pastor is finishing his eulogy, he realizes he’s wearing

the same jacket he was wearing when Charlie died at the hospital.
Thinking that this would be the perfect time to share Charlies last words of love

for his family and church, he announces…..

“Our dear brother, Charlie, handed me a note just before he died,” he says. “I

haven’t looked at it, but knowing Charlie, I’m sure there’s a word of inspiration in it

for us all.” ….and opening the note, he reads aloud,

“Move your foot, you idiot! You’re standing on my oxygen hose!”

Cowboy Boots

(Anyone who has ever dressed a child will love this one!)

Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was
helping one of her kindergarten students put
on his cowboy boots?

He asked for help and she could see why.

Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little
boots still didn’t want to go on. By the time they
got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said,
“Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.”
She looked, and sure enough, they were.

It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than
it was putting them on. She managed to keep
her cool as together they worked to get the
boots back on, this time on the right feet.

He then announced, “….These aren’t my boots.”

She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face
and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?”, like she
wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him
pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner
had they gotten the boots off when he said,

“They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em.”

Now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.
But, she mustered up what grace and courage
she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked,
“….Now, where are your mittens?”

A sad era for the CU journalism school

Free Speech at the University of Colorado’s journalism school has died a sad death, suffering from a lack of outrage over the recent decision by campus leaders to impose politically correct and intellectually bankrupt censorship on student reporters there.

The Boulder campus has been in a tizzy for more than two months after Campus Press columnist Max Karson wrote a controversial satirical column titled “If It’s War They Want…” The piece, which included offensive references to Asian stereotypes, was memorable for two reasons. First, it was poorly written. And second, while Karson says he wrote the piece in an attempt to provoke dialogue on what he considers to be a racist campus, he failed to do so.

Instead, Karson’s column served to effectively bait CU’s liberal administration into censoring all student journalists. Campus Press editors were condemned as racist for failing to dump Karson’s column before it ran, diversity sessions were imposed on the Campus Press staff, and an inevitable investigation was commenced by Boulder Chancellor Bud Peterson.

All over a column. A poorly written column. By a kid who swears he’s not a racist.

The most notable is the first response. According to Peterson, CU is investigating whether Karson’s column violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a provision that specifically prohibits federally-funded institutions like CU from discriminated against protected classes, including race and sex.

Apparently, Peterson has never heard of the First Amendment, which clearly protects political speech—even bad political satire.

Predictably, diversity activists are also using this controversy as an opportunity to divert more funding to campus diversity efforts – already pegged at over $30 million annually. According to Peterson, CU’s second response includes “additional funding for programs and scholarships, a broadened focus on diversity and quick administrative action when a racist incident occurs.”

Third, Peterson also announced the creation of a Campus Press oversight board that will include “not only journalism faculty but also non-journalism students, faculty and administrators representing a broad diversity of campus interests.” In other words, students can’t be trusted to use the First Amendment without the guidance of diversity activists indoctrinating them at every step.

In addition, Campus Press editors will have a new opinion policy that states in part “that all opinions deemed controversial will be discussed by student editors who will strive to offset controversial opinions with a counter opinion published the same day on the same page.”

According to Journalism Dean Paul Voakes, the efforts are not meant to censor student reporters. The oversight panel, he claims, will merely offer suggestions and insights from people about how to make Campus Press more successful. We wish we could believe him.

As it stands, the Campus Press is a disgrace of a student newspaper even without this latest controversy. Once published weekly, and now only available online, the publication as currently organized does little to prepare students for the real of work of journalism. The Colorado Daily, once the school’s student rag, moved off campus decades ago amidst controversy over its editorial independence and continues to serve as the Boulder campus’ de facto newspaper.

Any of the four responses advocated by Peterson are a step in the wrong direction. Taken collectively, however, they create a devastating chilling effect in the one place on campus where free speech should be most sacred.

Ritter’s arrogance, undeterred

Give credit where credit is due. Gov. Bill Ritter is gutsy these days. Even after having a controversial tax increase he championed slapped down in district court as unconstitutional, he remains undeterred. The Governor will use your tax dollars to backfill his endless promises to taxpayers.

Ritter has only been emboldened, telling The Denver Post, “We’re still confident in our position here, we really are…We understand this is in greater flux than it was, but we have to still go forward and budget with what we believe will be in place.”

A Colorado man with a history of wildlife violations pleaded guilty to numerous wildlife related-crimes in a New Mexico district court on June 23.

Kirt Darner, 69, of Crawford, has been convicted of wildlife violations in Colorado dating back to 1994. In 2000, Colorado Division of Wildlife officers started investigating Darner as a suspect in the theft of two bighorn sheep heads from a Montrose taxidermist. In Cibola County, N.M., on Monday, Darner pleaded guilty to transporting wild elk and receiving stolen property – specifically, the two Colorado sheep heads. At the time they were stolen, the sheep heads were estimated to be worth more than $20,000 each.

“We’ve worked on this case for more than eight years and cooperatively with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for the past three. I can’t give them or the Cibola County District Attorney’s office enough credit for their hard work and diligence.” said Eric Schaller, an investigator for the DOW. “This case also shows that the Colorado Division of Wildlife will continue to pursue these tough cases for as long as necessary.”

Darner could serve four years in jail and pay a minimum of $10,000 in fines and restitution for the New Mexico charges. A sentencing hearing has not been set. As part of the plea agreement, Darner agreed never to hunt, fish or possess a firearm again. He also is prohibited from working as a guide or outfitter in Colorado and New Mexico.

Previously, in Colorado, Darner was convicted of illegal possession of wildlife in 1994. In 1999 he was convicted of second degree tampering with evidence and careless driving in an incident in which he was serving as an outfitter. DOW officers observed Darner’s client shoot at an elk decoy in a game management unit for which the client didn’t have a license. In 2008 Darner pleaded guilty to making a false statement in order to purchase a license. He had applied for land owner vouchers with the DOW but did not own enough property to be eligible for the program.

While executing a search warrant at the Darner property in 2005, New Mexico wildlife officers discovered a desert bighorn sheep head and a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep head inside Darner’s vehicle. Further examination of the heads indicated they were the same sheep heads that were stolen from a Montrose taxidermy shop in 2000. The DOW had offered a $5,500 reward for information about the sheep-head thefts.

Darner, a nationally known big-game hunter and guide, and Paula Darner were co-owners of the 40-acre Lobo Canyon Ranch north of Grants when they were indicted in New Mexico in 2006 on 41 felony and misdemeanor charges. Among the charges, the Darners were accused of receiving stolen property and of illegally moving three state-owned elk from the Lobo Canyon Ranch to the Pancho Peaks ranch and game park in southeastern New Mexico in 2005. Charges against Paula Darner are still pending.

If you have information about a wildlife crime, please call Operation Game Thief at 1-877-265-6648. Tips can be made anonymously and rewards are possible.

Like this:

ALEC Adopts “Campus Personal Protection Act”!The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is an organization comprised of public and private sector members (largely made up of state legislators and corporate/association government affairs representatives) from all 50 states that share common support for free market principles and individual liberties. On Monday, June 23 the model for “Campus Personal Protection Act,” previously discussed in May at ALEC’s Spring Task Force Summit, was officially adopted as model legislation.Brought forth by NRA-ILA, the act calls for the repeal of state restrictions on the possession of firearms by valid concealed handgun licensees on college and university campuses and preempts governing bodies of postsecondary educational institutions from imposing such restrictions on permit holders.

Obama Tries To Move Forward By Backpedaling:By now we all know where presidential nominee Barack Obama stands on the Second Amendment.During the primaries, Obama tried to hide behind vague statements of support for “sportsmen” or unfounded claims of general support for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.But don’t listen to his campaign rhetoric!His real record, based on votes taken, political associations, long-standing positions, and his own words, shows that Barack Obama is a very serious threat to our Second Amendment liberties

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal this week signed into law the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows school districts to permit teachers to present evidence, analysis and critique of evolution and other prevalent scientific theories in public school classrooms.

The law came to the governor’s desk after overwhelming support in the legislature, including a unanimous vote in the state’s Senate and a 93-4 vote in the House.

The act has been criticized by some as an attempt to insert religion into science education and hailed by others as a blow for academic freedom in the face of pressure to ignore flaws in politically correct scientific theories.

Robert Crowther, director of communications for The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank on science and culture, called the act necessary.